1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of adhesive sheets in roll form and processes for making them.
2. Description of Related Art
Label assemblies in which a release agent coated carrier sheet has a plurality of pressure sensitive adhesive coated labels adhered to it are known. Such label assemblies are available in sheet or roll form with, or without, a blank facing capable of receiving markings. Such label assemblies are often used to mark folders, address envelopes, label containers, label file cabinets, label shelves and so forth. Typically, such labels are made of paper and are removed from the carrier sheet by bending the carrier sheet and "picking" at the label.
Those known label assemblies are often unsatisfactory for use in an industrial setting. Paper is adversely affected by solvents, oils and humidity, resulting in staining and curling, is easily torn and damaged and often has insufficient conformability to nonflat surfaces. The adhesive used is generally either ineffective to hold the label on a nonsmooth or contaminated surface, or leaves an adhesive residue on the surface after it is removed, which interferes with use as a temporary or repositionable label.
Although paper labels coated within a low-tack repositionable pressure-sensitive adhesive have been a phenomenal success in the office setting in which the note is typically applied to a paper surface, the inventors have found that such notes perform poorly on substrates which have an irregular surface and/or have a surface with low surface energy or contamination which reduces the effectiveness of the adhesive. Such surfaces are prevalent in industrial settings, research and development laboratories, the construction industry, warehouses, and other settings which require the ability to post temporary notes on non-paper surfaces.
Such settings also require that the labels be dispensed in a manner that facilitates removal from carrier and application to the substrate. Workers and technicians often are required to wear gloves, they often are in situations in which they have only one hand available for removing and applying the note and they are often pressed for time. The typical assemblies used to dispense self-adhesive labels are not satisfactory for meeting these end use requirements.